Last OS Standing: Make the Most of Windows Vista

Add Vista Ultimate Features to Your Home Premium PC

The numerous and confusing differences among Vista versions have led many people to opt for Home Premium ($240, or $160 as an upgrade from XP) rather than the full-featured Ultimate ($399, or $260 as an upgrade). Fortunately, you can give Home Premium many Ultimate features, often for free, with tips courtesy of the amazing Scott Dunn.

Vista Power Tips From a Microsoft Guru

Anemic system performance is the focus of Contributing Editor Erik Larkin's collection of six brilliant tricks to help you get maximum performance from your Vista PC.

Deal With Vista Defrag Problems

Our Answer Line expert, Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector, checks in with a quick but extremely useful tip for making Vista's Defrag work in Safe Mode.

Minimize Your Vista-Related Hardware Hassles

If you plan to upgrade to Windows Vista, check out Contributing Editor Kirk Steers's tried and true tips for easing your move to the newer OS. For instance, he offers guidance on how to check Vista's Device Manager for peripherals or devices that Vista considers problematic: In Device Manager's list of hardware, all such instances will be flagged with an exclamation point in a yellow triangle, as shown here.

More Vista Tweaks and Fixes

And finally, Contributing Editor Steve Bass presents five great workarounds for the things that ail Vista--and antagonize Vista users--most.